Daily crosswords linked to sharper brain in later life

  • A very large online study has found that doing word puzzles regularly protects against age-related cognitive decline.

Data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over has revealed that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.

Study participants took part in online cognitive tests, as well as being asked how frequently they did word puzzles such as crosswords. There was a direct relationship between the frequency of word puzzle use and the speed and accuracy of performance on nine cognitive tasks.

The effect was considerable. For example, on test measures of grammatical reasoning speed and short-term memory accuracy, performing word puzzles was associated with brain function equivalent to ten years younger than participants’ chronological age.

The next question is whether you can improve brain function by engaging in puzzles.

The study used participants in the PROTECT online platform, run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London. Currently, more than 22,000 healthy people aged between 50 and 96 are registered in the study. PROTECT is a 10 year study with participants being followed up annually to enable a better understanding of cognitive trajectories in this age range.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-07/uoe-dcl071417.php

Reference: 

The Relationship Between the Frequency of Word Puzzle Use and Cognitive Function in a Large Sample of Adults Aged 50 to 96 Years, was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017 on July 17.

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